Edward Snowden – Hero to American Privacy and Security

What a wonderful time to be alive – when people who believe in the individual and natural rights of all humanity are willing to sacrifice their own life to continue to make truth and transparency in government possible.

Mr. Edward Snowden, the source for the information regarding the National Security Agency (NSA) and the atrocious and unconstitutional collection of information from all Americans (and who knows who else) did more than just give pertinent information to the press – he has become a beacon of hope for the next generation of Americans who believe in true freedom, in a truly transparent government, and in securing the privacy of people who live in this country.

A “dragnet” collection and storage of Americans’ phone calls, including geographically located and logging where data is collected (“Boundless Informant”), is at the heart of the issue. Proponents of this far-reaching use of data in order to “protect” and “save” Americans include Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence – Representative Peter King who is calling for Snowden’s capture and punishment.

Maybe the people of this country should demand the capture and punishment of Peter King and the other representatives who have failed their oath of office, the oath to uphold the Constitution! Who is the Criminal? People SHOULD be in jail, and they are not the Edward Snowdens of the world.

Never in history has so much data been collected on so many innocent people. What happens when the people collecting the information decide that someone is a threat and should be “dealt” with? Is there review from a jury, a judge, a citizens oversight committee to see if that person is indeed a threat? Who decides what determines a threat? It is said that Congress knows what is going on – but judging from the other amazing things Congress is doing for mankind, I kind of doubt it. Does my representative Scott Tipton (R) know who in his district has their information being collected by the NSA? Does he know who is on a list determined to be a “threat”? I would love to think that he does, but he is probably as aware of the NSA’s activities as any of us are.

As a Colorado citizen, I can assure you that I think that the leaks about NSA’s activities from Snowden are more crucial to our security than keeping these unconstitutional activities hidden from Americans. When people like Representative King scream about the dangers to Americans from Americans who seek transparency in government, it is a blatant illustration of the “smarter than thou” mentality from people sitting in offices far away from everyday Americans working very hard to just survive.

This has nothing to do with terrorism – this has everything to do with the disregard for the privacy of innocent people who should never have their emails and phone calls read and listened to by people working for the NSA, for the government, or for any bureaucratic entity christened to “keep watch” on the homeland. There are judicial processes available to constitutionally deal with terrorist threats – there is absolutely zero need to invade the privacy of individual citizens.